Kickstart: Chocolate in reusable packaging, sustainable jackets and litter cleanup

Sometimes it does seem like everything old is new again.

Food and beverage giant Nestlé SA has announced it's reverting to metal can packaging in Germany in a trial for its Nesquik cocoa powder.

But rather than nostalgia, the impetus is environmental. It wants to see how consumers react to a reusable packaging format.

The company has launched a trial of reusable stainless steel containers, in a partnership with Frankfurt packaging supplier Circolution GmbH.

The containers are designed to be compatible with Germany's deposit return scheme, including working with the reverse vending machines in many German supermarkets.

Nestlé rents the containers from Circolution, which returns clean containers back to the processed food manufacturer as part of a packaging-fee-for-service model, reports the FoodNavigator.com website.

It seems a logical mix, combining the infrastructure that gets built up for a container deposit system with reusable packaging.

Consumers in Germany pay a deposit of 8-15 euro cents for a reusable container, compared with 25 euro cents for single-use packaging.

It's part of the Nestlé's efforts to reduce its reliance on virgin plastic.

"One of our goals is to use one-third less virgin plastic by 2025 compared to 2018," a Nestlé representative told Food Navigator. "Circolution offers a very concrete solution here, which we are now testing."

If you know (or are) a distance runner, you're aware that jackets sold to Boston Marathon runners are a valued item of clothing, signifying the accomplishment of qualifying for the race.

For 2023, the jacket will also signify sustainability. The Boston Athletic Association and sportswear giant Adidas announced Feb. 8 that this year's jacket will be made using material from recovered plastic waste intercepted on "remote islands, beaches, coastal communities and shorelines."

"This year's jacket represents Adidas and the BAA's shared commitment to sustainability while commemorating the accomplishments of our Boston Marathon athletes," Jack Fleming, president and CEO of the BAA, said in a news release.

The race is April 17.

(Thanks to Plastics News Managing Editor Rhoda Miel for this item.)

Eleven plastics companies have been recognized by a trade association for their efforts cleaning up litter.

The Plastics Industry Association named the companies on Feb. 9 as 2023 Cleanup Champions for their work and for using a guide developed by the association for planning cleanups.

The association's Future Leaders in Plastic group set up a community impact task force in April and put together the guide, which includes sample tally sheets for recording what's collected, safety and logistics pointers, and suggestions for press releases and marketing to bring attention to the event.

The companies honored for 2023 are Advanced Blending Solutions, Brueckner USA, Industrial Heater Corporation, Braskem, Covestro, Epsilyte, Milliken, Gardner Business Media, Dart Container, Colour Synthesis Solutions and Placon.